Notre Dame offensive coordinator Gerad Parker met with local writers Tuesday night on campus. Here's a transcript of his conversation with reporters ahead of Saturday's home game against Pitt.
Questions may be paraphrased.
GERAD PARKER
Did you get to clear your mind during the week off?
“You all know my opinion of Marcus Freeman. So I would say working for a man that gives you time off, let’s you get around your family and be a dad, and so some things. We got to go evaluate him the other day at football. But seriously, I’ve never had that treatment like that to be able have the time off that we had off. To be able to work but also get away and go love our families. Our kids had their dads do some things that normal dads get to do. That was refreshing and also pretty cool.”
Do you ever totally unplug?
“No. No. No. You guys write too much. You won’t let us. But all jokes aside, no, you can’t. But you can do enough. Also we worked last week in enough fashion to get ready for Pitt, or at least prepare enough, that you were allowed to unplug and do it and take some time away, because you knew you had already put in the work towards them. Maybe some things we’ve done in the past at other places I’ve been, you would maybe take where you’re recruiting more or doing other things or whatever it was and you didn’t get work done toward your next week’s opponent. Then you end up being on the same week you were had you had no bye week. Getting work done and heading towards an opponent of the following week allows you some time to be able to unplug if you can.”
What in your work tells you this offense can be more like first four games than the last four games?
“It’s a good question. The fact is I’ve thought a lot about it, and I’ll be honest with you guys. Here’s the real question. Do we have to execute better? Do we have to be better on third down? Yes. And we have to execute better against better people. I think we need to be fair, too, and understand two of those defenses are top five defenses. The third one that we lost to that we don’t feel very proud of was a top 25 defense. And never have I sat in front of you guys and ever used anything but ‘I’m first. I get it. We have to play better.’ But there’s realities, too, to our jobs. We have to be better against really good people. That’s what everyone here wants. It’s what you all want. It’s what my wife wants. The fact is how do you do that? We have to execute better. So, getting back last week and starting with really good practices, we kind of got back to brass tacks about understanding why we’re doing what we’re doing, how to execute it better so we can, and then we can finish drives and put points on the board that everybody wants to see. It’s really not dodging it. That’s the only way you do this thing better against better people and get going on these last four games and get to where we expect our guys and doing what we want to do.”
Did you identify your tendencies and do you feel like you’re leaning on them enough?
“Yeah, I think that you have to identify them. So, we’ve identified more of who we are and then maybe some things and tendencies you don’t want, that we hope can be flipped. Those you wouldn’t say out loud, but there’s some things we need to break that we’ve done per formation or per run/pass, those things that you always want to make sure of and check. Then, too, you check on what we do well. Where are we most efficient in our run and pass? We feel like we’ve done those. I feel like this game plan as we put it together and keep adding to it this week will put us in a position to do that.”
What is Deland McCullough’s influence on keeping all five of his guys happy?
“It’s critical that we’re able to put them in those spots. I think he’s done a great job of doing that, balancing the room. I think he’s been so up front and honest with them, about their roles and why from Aud [Estimé] to any of the others. I think his experience and being part of the NFL and being able to share some thoughts from those guys, whether it be our No. 1 or our No. 5, has kept those guys well-informed. And then maybe not let some of the selfishness that does exist creep in, because they understand. He’s done a really good job with his communication. I think it’s kept those guys in a position where they understand the expectations but understand the ‘Why?’ and it’s balanced the room up pretty good. And it’s a testament to those guys. They want the football more, all of them do, but they’re great kids and they’ve really done a nice job for us throughout the year.”
With a guy Rico Flores, have you started a freshman wide receiver before? What has allowed him to?
“I don’t know that I have. On my résumé, I’ve had some play but I don’t if they’ve played this much and played this significant amount of reps and in a stadium like that. It tells you a lot about him. He’s eager to learn, always asking, always around the building. And I think it’s put him in a position where he’s starting to see some stuff and see success doing it.”
How would you characterize preparing for a Pat Narduzzi/Randy Bates defense?
“They have stood the test of time. This defense, the way they fit you, the brand of football the team plays and specifically the defense plays. No matter where we’ve been — it’s been that way when I was at Duke and we played Pitt. It’s been that way at Penn State when we played Pitt. It stood the test of time. They play a base defense. They get exotic on third down. Their guys know their fits in the run game. They know the route combos they’re going to see in the pass game to get attacked. They play it well, because they know what to do and they execute it at a high level. That’s what it’s done over time.”
Two pretty good corners?
“Two really good corners. They play physical, and they’re right up in your grill every snap.”
That’s how Narduzzi has always coached it, right?
“Yep. Complete street fight.”
What has last week and this week been like preparing for that?
“At the end of the day, there’s very few things to prepare for it, because you’re not going to face it the same way because everybody plays different. The biggest thing is is it’s going to be a fight and there’s only one way in and one way out of one of those. Our guys are going to have to be gritty in how they pull out of stuff and how we get through stuff, because they’re going to be relentless in how they approach us.”
(more)
Questions may be paraphrased.
GERAD PARKER
Did you get to clear your mind during the week off?
“You all know my opinion of Marcus Freeman. So I would say working for a man that gives you time off, let’s you get around your family and be a dad, and so some things. We got to go evaluate him the other day at football. But seriously, I’ve never had that treatment like that to be able have the time off that we had off. To be able to work but also get away and go love our families. Our kids had their dads do some things that normal dads get to do. That was refreshing and also pretty cool.”
Do you ever totally unplug?
“No. No. No. You guys write too much. You won’t let us. But all jokes aside, no, you can’t. But you can do enough. Also we worked last week in enough fashion to get ready for Pitt, or at least prepare enough, that you were allowed to unplug and do it and take some time away, because you knew you had already put in the work towards them. Maybe some things we’ve done in the past at other places I’ve been, you would maybe take where you’re recruiting more or doing other things or whatever it was and you didn’t get work done toward your next week’s opponent. Then you end up being on the same week you were had you had no bye week. Getting work done and heading towards an opponent of the following week allows you some time to be able to unplug if you can.”
What in your work tells you this offense can be more like first four games than the last four games?
“It’s a good question. The fact is I’ve thought a lot about it, and I’ll be honest with you guys. Here’s the real question. Do we have to execute better? Do we have to be better on third down? Yes. And we have to execute better against better people. I think we need to be fair, too, and understand two of those defenses are top five defenses. The third one that we lost to that we don’t feel very proud of was a top 25 defense. And never have I sat in front of you guys and ever used anything but ‘I’m first. I get it. We have to play better.’ But there’s realities, too, to our jobs. We have to be better against really good people. That’s what everyone here wants. It’s what you all want. It’s what my wife wants. The fact is how do you do that? We have to execute better. So, getting back last week and starting with really good practices, we kind of got back to brass tacks about understanding why we’re doing what we’re doing, how to execute it better so we can, and then we can finish drives and put points on the board that everybody wants to see. It’s really not dodging it. That’s the only way you do this thing better against better people and get going on these last four games and get to where we expect our guys and doing what we want to do.”
Did you identify your tendencies and do you feel like you’re leaning on them enough?
“Yeah, I think that you have to identify them. So, we’ve identified more of who we are and then maybe some things and tendencies you don’t want, that we hope can be flipped. Those you wouldn’t say out loud, but there’s some things we need to break that we’ve done per formation or per run/pass, those things that you always want to make sure of and check. Then, too, you check on what we do well. Where are we most efficient in our run and pass? We feel like we’ve done those. I feel like this game plan as we put it together and keep adding to it this week will put us in a position to do that.”
What is Deland McCullough’s influence on keeping all five of his guys happy?
“It’s critical that we’re able to put them in those spots. I think he’s done a great job of doing that, balancing the room. I think he’s been so up front and honest with them, about their roles and why from Aud [Estimé] to any of the others. I think his experience and being part of the NFL and being able to share some thoughts from those guys, whether it be our No. 1 or our No. 5, has kept those guys well-informed. And then maybe not let some of the selfishness that does exist creep in, because they understand. He’s done a really good job with his communication. I think it’s kept those guys in a position where they understand the expectations but understand the ‘Why?’ and it’s balanced the room up pretty good. And it’s a testament to those guys. They want the football more, all of them do, but they’re great kids and they’ve really done a nice job for us throughout the year.”
With a guy Rico Flores, have you started a freshman wide receiver before? What has allowed him to?
“I don’t know that I have. On my résumé, I’ve had some play but I don’t if they’ve played this much and played this significant amount of reps and in a stadium like that. It tells you a lot about him. He’s eager to learn, always asking, always around the building. And I think it’s put him in a position where he’s starting to see some stuff and see success doing it.”
How would you characterize preparing for a Pat Narduzzi/Randy Bates defense?
“They have stood the test of time. This defense, the way they fit you, the brand of football the team plays and specifically the defense plays. No matter where we’ve been — it’s been that way when I was at Duke and we played Pitt. It’s been that way at Penn State when we played Pitt. It stood the test of time. They play a base defense. They get exotic on third down. Their guys know their fits in the run game. They know the route combos they’re going to see in the pass game to get attacked. They play it well, because they know what to do and they execute it at a high level. That’s what it’s done over time.”
Two pretty good corners?
“Two really good corners. They play physical, and they’re right up in your grill every snap.”
That’s how Narduzzi has always coached it, right?
“Yep. Complete street fight.”
What has last week and this week been like preparing for that?
“At the end of the day, there’s very few things to prepare for it, because you’re not going to face it the same way because everybody plays different. The biggest thing is is it’s going to be a fight and there’s only one way in and one way out of one of those. Our guys are going to have to be gritty in how they pull out of stuff and how we get through stuff, because they’re going to be relentless in how they approach us.”
(more)
